Barcelona head home even with Stuttgart

Barcelona fought back from a 1-0 deficit to earn a difficult 1-1 draw in Germany against VfB Stuttgart in their opening leg of the Champions League quarterfinal matchup.  Barcelona were hoping the return of Xavi and Ibrahimovic from injury would spur the squad to victory on the road, but it was the home side that raced ahead.

Barcelona knew that Cacau would be the dangerman on the evening after he notched four goals on the weekend against Cologne and Cacau it would be to put Stuttgart ahead in the 25th minute.   Timo Gebhart's cross was perfect, just clearing Carles Puyol allowing Cacau to head past the helpless Victor Valdes.

The homeside went nuts and Stuttgart would hold the lead into the 2nd half.  That's when Barcelona would strike back to even the match and grab the all-important road goal.  In the 52nd minute Pique used his 6ft 3in frame to nod a high ball down to Ibrahimovic, and although Lehmann blocked his first effort, the Swede slotted home at the second attempt.

It looked like Ibrahimovic had the winner later on when a corner kick fell to him with Lehmann off his line, but Ibrahimovic had his shot blocked off the line by Cristian Molinaro.  The match ended 1-1 and will head back to Spain with Barcelona having the edge with the away goal but still plenty of work to do.